thin white lines | l. hemmings

32

Surely their music could be heard many floors up at the hotel as they parked beneath it, the speakers vibrated the entire car with the bass booming along to the beat.

It came as a disappointment when Luke put the car in park, ceasing the music and leaving them in silence. It was time to leave each other and go back to their hotel rooms, yet neither of them moved.

"Thank you," Delaney spoke up, unclicking her seat belt and turning toward him. "It was fun."

"More fun than it would've been with Calum," he said back, smirking.

"I'll give you that." She sighed, leaning back against the seat despite the car being parked. "Calum is fun, but not in the same way."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know," she said, covering her face with her hands. "I'm not good with words."

"Give it a shot. Then we'll go inside and you don't have to say any more words for the rest of the night."

She let out a short laugh, but nodded. "You make me feel safe. I don't know why, but doing a dumb thing like dancing in the rain didn't seem so dumb. It felt nice. With you."

The sentence practically cured him of the chills that had stuck with him since being out in the rain. Hearing the vaguest taste of how she felt about him was enough to warm him for the night. "Let's do it again, then." Was all he said. If he relayed how he felt about her, he knew he'd end up embarrassed about whatever rolled off his tongue.

"I hope we do," she said honestly, her voice soft in comparison to her loud singing voice.

"Ready to get to bed?" He asked, catching the time out of the corner of his eye.

"I guess," she breathed out, not being able to come up with a reason for them to stay together any longer because neither of them were willing to come out and say that they weren't tired and would rather stay up all night talking to each other.

He nodded and they both exited the car, walking through the parking garage with their steps echoing off the paved walls. As they walked up the stairwell, and Luke found himself reaching for a cigarette.

Delaney didn't mind, of course. She was around him and others while they smoked plenty and it didn't bother her for any reason other than the fact that it gave her the urge to smoke with them.

Now was one of those times. She pushed her hand in front of him, a way of silently asking him to share, but he shook his head. He wasn't sure why he randomly got this idea, but he did.

"No?" She questioned, stopping on the stairs platform.

He shook his head again, turning his body towards her as he stopped as well. "Have you ever shotgunned?"

She let out a light scoff. "It's not usually with cigarette smoke, is it?"

"Why not?" He shrugged, holding out the fresh cigarette in front of her face.

"So, is that an offer?" She asked, taking a step closer to him, eyes darting between the lit cigarette and his perfectly pink lips.

"Yes, Laney. It was," he confirmed, taking a step as well so there was barely any space between them anymore, tilting his head down towards her. "Are you accepting it?" He whispered, putting it between his lips.

"How could I refuse?" She asked rhetorically, her voice quieter now that he was close enough to hear her at a whisper.

He placed the tip of his forefinger underneath her chin, propping her head to tilt perfectly up towards him.